Socket wrench having nut-retaining means



July 9, 1957 w. E. HUBBARD SOCKET WRENCH HAVING NUT-RETAINING MEANSFiled May 27, 1954 FIG.|

INVENTORI W. E. HUBBARD ATT' Y United States Patent Walter E. Hubbard,Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated,New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 27, 1954,Serial No. 432,678 1 Claim. (Cl. 81-125) This invention relates tosocket wrenches having nutretaining means, and has for an object thereofthe provision of new and improved socket wrenches.

Another object of the invention is to provide socket wrenches which maybe easily maintained.

A further object of the invention is to provide socket wrenches havingspring article-holding elements which are not permanently fixed to thewrenches.

A socket wrench illustrating certain features of the invention mayinclude an element having a head provided with a socket for receiving anut or the like and a shank portion. Slots disposed radially in the headand the shank portion serve to receive wire springs provided with hookedends entering bores in the shank portion of the element, and a sleevemounted slidably on the shank portion may be moved between positions inwhich the springs may be removed from the element and positions in whichthe springs are locked in the slots to grip a nut positioned in thesocket.

A complete understanding of the invention may be obtained from thefollowing detailed description of a socket wrench forming a specificembodiment thereof, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings,in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a wrench forming one embodiment of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fnagmentary view of a portion of the wrench shownin Fig. 1, parts being broken away and shown in section, and

Fig. 3 is a further enlarged, horizontal section taken along line 3-3 ofFig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, there is shown therein a wrenchfor picking up nuts and threading them onto studs or the like. Thewrench includes a body 11 having a shank 12 and a head 13 having ahexagonal socket 14 therein which is slightly larger than the nuts 10. Adriver 16, which may be power driven or manually driven, is connected bya pin 17 to the shank 12. A retaining sleeve 18 is mounted slidably onthe shank 12, and when in the upper position, as shown in Fig. 1, itpermits wire springs 20 to be removed and replaced. When moved to thelower position thereof as shown in Fig. 2, the retainer presses againstthe springs 20 to hold end rings 22 tightly against the nut 10 so thatthe nut then may be lifted and held in the socket 14.

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The springs 20 lie in grooves 24' and slots 24 and tang or hook portions25 fit loosely into bores 26 to support the springs from the body 11.The springs also fit loosely with respect to the grooves 24' and theslots 24 so that they may freely spring out of the slots 24, as thesleeve 18 is retracted, or may be freely cammed into the slots, as thesleeve is moved down. The clearance between each of the hook portions 25and the rings 22 in the bores 26 and the slots 24 is such that onlylimited turning action of the springs is possible so that when thesleeve 18 is moved to its lowermost position, the rings 22 are pressedtightly against the nuts 10.

After the nuts 10 are threaded onto the article, the wrench may bepulled upwardly off the nut 10 without moving the sleeve 18. Likewise,the wrench need only be pressed over the nut 10 to pick it up, the rings22 being sprung outwardly by a camming action of the nut 10 that isbeing pressed into the socket 14.

The above-described wrench is very simple in. operation andconstruction, and may be easily maintained merely by sliding the sleeve18 upwardly to replace the springs 20.

It is to he understood that the above-described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of tie principles of the invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallwithin the function and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

A socket wrench for holding an article forced into the socket, whichcomprises a body provided with a head portion having a socket thereinand a shank portion, said body being provided with radial slots spacedcircumferentially and extending from the exterior of the head portion tothe interior thereof and merging into grooves extending along theexterior of the shank portion and said body being provided with a borepositioned in the shank portion at the end of each groove, a pluralityof wire springs each provided with a hook portion disposed in one of thebores in the shank and a rounded articleengaging portion disposed in oneof the radial slots, said rounded article-engaging portions beingmovable partly into the socket in the head and yieldably held therein,and spring-retaining means mounted on the shank for pressing the wiresprings into the grooves so as to force the article-engaging portionsthereof partly into the socket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,022,822 Purnis Dec. 3, 1935 2,676,506 Schultz 1 Apr. 27, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 217,581 Great Britain Mar. 5, 1925 229,489 Great Britain Feb.26, 1925 402,949 Italy Mar. 30, 1943

